Page 80 of Blood Marked

“I already changed the moment I met her.”

"You may lose your throne."

“Fine.”

"You may lose your mind."

“Let it burn.”

"You may loseher,anyway."

That one stopped him. He looked back at Selene. So still. So quiet.

“I’d rather die trying than let her go.”

The shadow lifted its hand.

The circle flared.

Kael screamed in anguish.

It felt like being torn apart from the inside out.

Every piece of him was unmade and rebuilt, the magic clawing through his marrow like fire. His blood boiled. His memories shattered and reformed. His wolf howled, caught between dimensions.

He didn’t know how long it lasted. He only knew it ended with him collapsing beside Selene, coughing blood, shaking. Andfeelingthe bond snap back into place.

THIRTY-FIVE

SELENE

She was weightless. Untethered. Somewhere between the breath before dying and the one you never take again.

Everything around her was light—brilliant, blinding,alive. But it wasn’t warmth that cradled her. It wasmemory.

Not hers. Ancient ones.

She stood—though her body felt half-formed—in the middle of a place that didn’t exist in any realm she knew. Stars burned low overhead, pulsing like veins. The ground shimmered beneath her bare feet. Not stone. Not earth.

Veil.

She knew it instinctively.

And before her stood three figures cloaked in silver and dusk. Their features weren’t clear, but their presence was undeniable—powerful and old as creation itself.

Veilwalkers.

The first.

They regarded her not with cruelty, not even expectation, but something quieter. Recognition.

“Selene Morwen,” one of them said. Their voice was neither male nor female—just truth. “You’ve come.”

“I didn’t mean to,” she whispered.

“You did,” another corrected. “You chose.”

She shook her head. “I... died.”

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